Further pages

• About the EACR
  • An introduction to EACR
  • Benefits of Membership
  • Communication with Members
  • Mission / Strategic Plan
• Governance
  • 'At a Glance'
  • Constitution
  • Committees
• Society Members
  • Affiliated Society Members
  • Opportunities to become an affiliated National Society
• Sustaining Membership and Principal Sponsors
  • Our partners
• Eurocancercoms
  • The project
  • Papers
  • Survey results
• ECCO
  • EACR is a Founding Member of ECCO
• Make a Donation
  • How do I donate?
  • My donation
• Useful Links
  • Affiliated EACR Society Members
  • Useful Links

An introduction to EACR

With nearly 10,000 members, the ‘European Association for Cancer Research’, founded in 1968, is Europe’s largest member society for cancer research. The Association enjoys particularly strong links with other European cancer societies and is a founder member of the European Cancer Organisation (ECCO).

EACR has always had one guiding aim ‘The advancement of cancer research’. In pursuing this aim, the Association provides services to members, presents educational, training and scientific meeting opportunities, and facilitates communication and collaboration between the cancer researchers who make up its membership. It also sets out to raise the profile of cancer research and cancer researchers in Europe and the need for sustained political and economic support.

The size and range of membership reflects the fact that EACR sets out to be an inclusive, multi-disciplinary organisation and maintains a very low membership subscription to ensure that cost does not discourage participation. Post graduate students may obtain free membership for up to four years and the annual subscription rate for active members is just 40 Euros. Many senior researchers who support post graduate students, ‘post docs’ and those in the early years of their career, often recommend EACR membership as part of support for professional development.

Researchers who are members of EACR affiliated ‘National Societies’ in Britain (BACR), Belgium (BACR), Croatia (HDIR), Denmark (DSCF), France (SFC), Germany (AEK), Hungary (MOT), Ireland (IACR), Israel (ISCR), Italy (SIC), Serbia (SDIR), Spain (ASEICA) and Turkey (MOKAD) automatically become members of EACR as part of the wider benefits of belonging to their national society.

Our membership around the world:

All EACR members enjoy special registration rates at congresses in the EACR biennial congress series (EACR-22 in Barcelona 7-10 July 2012) and the biennial European Multidisciplinary Cancer Congress (Amsterdam 27 September – 1st October 2013) and are invited to submit abstracts to the congresses.

EACR travel fellowships, co-funded by the Association for International Cancer Research (AICR), have become increasingly popular over the last two years and the quality of applications is particularly high. This has encouraged a steady increase in the available budget over recent years as the Association has tried to support all high quality applications. Reports from fellowship winners are published in the EACR Annual Year Book each April and can be read by visitors to the EACR website. There is no doubt that a period of working in a new context, in a centre of excellence, is both powerful and of great encouragement to researchers.

The Association also offers support and encouragement through Meeting Bursaries and Awards. Young researchers who have difficulty in securing funding to attend the EACR biennial congress or EACR Symposia are encouraged to apply for Meeting Bursaries. Poster Awards and Researcher Awards (Oral Presentations) are a feature of EACR congresses, and special conferences, and of meetings the Association sponsors.

EACR’s most prestigious and valuable awards are the ‘Mike Price Gold Medal’ and ‘The Pezcoller Foundation - EACR Cancer Researcher Award’. The Mike Price Gold Medal is presented to a senior researcher who has made an exceptional contribution to cancer research in Europe; it will be presented for the first time at the EACR biennial congress in Barcelona 2012. ‘The Pezcoller Foundation - EACR Cancer Researcher Award’ is presented biennially at the EACR congress and celebrates academic excellence and achievements in the field of cancer research by a cancer researcher from European countries with no more than 15 years post doctoral experience.

EACR’s ‘Education Committee’ responds to members’ needs through the organisation of focused special conferences. These have recently included symposia on ‘Chromatin and Cancer’ and ‘Transcription and Cancer’, and a special conference on ‘Inflammation and Cancer’. EACR also supports annual meetings such as PIVAC-11 (Progress in Vaccination Against Cancer) which the Association manages for the organisers. EACR also organises courses in partnership, a recent example being the EACR-OECI Joint Training Course "Molecular Pathology approach to cancer".

As a sponsoring agency, EACR also supports important scientific meetings and symposia organised in Europe, publicises the meetings and ultimately carries informative follow-up reports in the Annual Year Book.

The Association’s journal is the European Journal of Cancer (EJC)